Debate Team Book 2

Technically this update is a couple of days late, but that’s because I’ve been working on something new. What exactly? I’ll get to that, but first, it’s official: the first draft to the sequel to Omni is finished! As of some time Thursday evening I completed the manuscript at the end of a marathon writing session. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed the title of this post, I don’t have a name for the book. Not a clue. Nope.

Seriously. I have no idea what to call it. That usually comes later, sometimes after everything else has been completed.

Speaking of completion, I had been thinking I was close to finishing the book for several days, but it wasn’t until Thursday that I actually saved the file, pushed myself away from the keyboard (I was sitting at my desktop computer instead of writing on a notebook like usual), and knew I was done. Now, don’t get me wrong: I still have a lot of work to do on the story before it’s ready.

Before I even get to my revisions, I’m going to sit on the story for a while. After enough time passes that I’m able to come back to it with a fresh perspective and hard, critical eyes, I’ll start cutting and shaping the story. From there, it’ll need to be edited and I’ll get some beta feedback. I also need to whip up a cover, which means contacting Igor again and hoping he has time in his schedule for yet one more commission. Once all of that is done and I make my final changes, it’s the home stretch. Assemble some files, do some last minute polish, and then it’s all done!

While I’m hoping this can all happen before Christmas, I somehow doubt that will be the case. The last time I was aiming for this exact release window I missed by five months. I don’t anticipate this one taking that long, but one can never be certain.

In the meantime, since I mentioned I’ll be sitting on the story for a while (as in, ignoring it to the best of my capabilities), I’ve started work on another project. This is a bit of a side project unrelated to any of my other various projects, and it may or may not see the light of day. I decided, however, that rather than try to shift into the mode required to write for the Scourge of Kallandin series, only to have to re-shift back to the Debate Team series, I would go a completely new direction that keeps me closer to what’s required for Ryan, Malone, Jaguar, and the rest of the folks involved in that series.

It’s too early to say if this side project has legs, but I’m optimistic about it. Time, as always, will render its judgement.

For now, know that I have a couple of items on the burners and ought to have at least one new thing in the near future, and possibly two. Exciting times are upon us! I know that my world is in the process of being turned upside down, but sometimes change, no matter how drastic, is what’s needed.